Angela Barrow - Feltmaker & Tutor

a life of fibre

My first woven scarf

We bought the loom just before Christmas and as Simon was first to start weaving I had to wait my turn. It’s a 20″ Ashford knitters loom, which is basically a rigid heddle loom that folds up. The folding up part was important to us as with two spinning wheels in the house space is at a premium.

It’s difficult to know what it will turn out like especially as how firmly you beat each row down will make a difference. There are occasions on which I’ll produce samples but when it’s just for fun I like to make a whole item. Things I learnt making this first scarf – 1) warping up was faster than I expected 2) the tension needed to be greater than expected 3) it was easier to beat the rows down using both hands to hold the reed 4) if you don’t get your tension even in the beginning you can feel the difference in the work 5) make the warps longer as you lose some length during weaving and when cutting off at the end 6) it was way quicker than I expected!! I really liked that last learning point 🙂

It’s far from perfect but I learnt a lot, was much better at keeping my edges straight than I expected to be and the result is still beautiful and usable despite any errors. I can’t wait to have another go but I’ll have to as Simon is now on his third item. Think we both may have the bug.